I am excited to announce the launch of this dream that has been on my heart for so many years!
Denver Gap Year will launch in the fall of 2019. It is a yearly, 8 month program starting in September and ending in April. Designed for ages 18-22 years old with an approximate cost of 12,000 dollars. (This covers room, board, classes, adventure trips and a trip to Spain) Participants will live in a community house and spend 1 month traveling internationally.
Set to the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, our location in Denver is a thriving, diverse city with over 2 million people, offering participants the perfect combination of urban living and outdoor adventures. Participants will be able to explore all that Denver has to offer while also having plenty of time to explore the Rocky Mountains.
But what makes Denver Gap Year unique from other gap years? Here are 7 things that we believe make Denver Gap Year a unique experience:
Denver
That’s right, the first thing that makes DGY unique is the very city it’s located in! Denver gives you the accessibility of a large city, but also the ability to escape to the nearby mountains. Whether you are interested in major sports, art districts, great food, music scenes, or the outdoors, Denver has it all! Just make sure to invest in a good pair of sunglasses, as the city boasts to have over 300 days of sunshine a year.
International experience
A total of one month during the gap year experience will be spent abroad. At the end of the first term participants and staff will travel to Manila, Philippines to serve alongside an orphanage for former street children. The second trip will take place at the end of the year with participants traveling to the G42 Leadership Academy in Mijas, Spain. This will be a time to debrief, challenge, celebration, and engagement in G42 community.
Local community service
Every participant will choose one nonprofit organization to serve with during their gap year. This allows the participants to gain valuable skills and insight to combat injustice locally, rather than just abroad. All nonprofit options are official partners of Denver Gap Year. They include Denver Rescue Mission, Growhaus, Love Made Claim and Denver Public Schools.
Classroom experience
Participants will learn in a classroom setting from staff, pastors, Christian leaders, and people working in the marketplace. The diverse selection of people brought into the classroom to teach will give participants an opportunity to learn many valuable lessons and subjects such as theology and leadership development.
Community living
At DGY, community is the center and heartbeat of the entire program. The participants will live together in a house, supervised by house parents, where they will partake in nightly community dinners. The dynamic of this “kitchen table discipleship” breeds fellowship between participants, staff, and visiting teachers in a way that is different than in the classroom. Our goal is to keep the number of participants small enough to form genuine relationships with everyone.
Growth through adventure
Participants will take monthly adventures such as whitewater rafting, mountain biking, camping, backpacking and hiking a famous Colorado 14er. Being pushed to test one’s comfort zone in different ways creates such a unique growth within an individual as well as a stronger bond within a community.
Staff and teachers
Every DGY staffer has a passion for discipleship. We want to empower the participants to discover their identity, activate their purpose, and engage in the world around them, and every teacher that visits shares the same vision as well. Most, if not all, of the staff has gone through our own sort of transformational gap year experience, and we are here to mentor participants throughout the year.
Does Denver Gap Year sound like something you would like to know more about? If so, go ahead and check out our website www.denvergapyear.com to find out more information, contact us or fill out an application!
